


The Tale of a Triad

by Solitudinarian



Category: Sci-Regency Series - J. L. Langley
Genre: Birthday Celebrations, Fluff, Insecurity, Jealousy, M/M, Mild Angst, Slight Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:48:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24820327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solitudinarian/pseuds/Solitudinarian
Summary: "-and then he just left so suddenly," Jeremy was saying, nestled in an armchair in Tarren's room, his legs thrown over the back of the chair and his head hanging over the edge."Maybe it's a suitor,"At those three words, Jeremy sat up suddenly and after overcoming a short bout of dizziness, he stared at Tarren in shock."What?" he sputtered. "What do you mean a suitor ?"Amidst the rush of elaborate preparations for the Crown Prince's birthday, there is a new arrival at Townsend Castle who comes with an objective Jeremy Hawkins is less than impressed by.
Relationships: Jeremy "Trouble" Hawkins/Rexley Townsend, Nathaniel Hawkins/Aiden Townsend
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	The Tale of a Triad

**Author's Note:**

  * For [junesuns](https://archiveofourown.org/users/junesuns/gifts).



> A very happy birthday to junesuns! I hope you enjoy this short attempt at (for once) fluff. 
> 
> This story is set after the events of 'My Fair Captain' by J.L Langley.

Jeremy leaned against the railing of the balcony with his elbow propped upon it, his fingers drumming softly against his cheek as he, squinting against the blinding glare of the sun, watched the preparations for the Crown Prince’s birthday unfold in full swing. He was standing on his toes to have a closer look at the elaborate cloth probably meant for the marquee being set up not far from the fountain in the centre, closer to a semi-circular ring of rose bushes, flanked on both ends by two lofty elm trees. The royal staff bustled about the castle gardens with baskets of drapes and adornments. His shoulders shook with suppressed giggles as he watched a frazzled Thomas standing in the middle of it all, starting at the smallest error made, directing and gesturing with his hands almost reflexively, ever resigned to his role as the conductor of this orchestrated chaos. 

It would take almost all of the five days leading up to Rexely’s birthday for everything to be in place, it seemed, but Jeremy knew for a fact that the ideation had taken even longer. Thomas had looked close to tearing his hair out while drafting detailed plans for both the ballroom and the garden as well as finalizing the guest list amid Tarren’s rather untimely escapades.

(Jeremy had tried to go along with most of them whenever he had time in-between his long-winded etiquette lessons but Nate’s temper had a limit that he did not want to cross).

He allowed himself to erupt into full-blown laughter as someone tripped over their own feet and a flurry of ribbons went flying out of the basket in their hands, tangling themselves around the unfortunate assistant butler.

“It’s always like this,” came a resigned voice from beside him, startling Jeremy into tearing his eyes away from his cause for amusement, only to find Rexley Townsend in all his glory, hair lightly windswept and laughter dancing in his eyes despite the fixed set of his mouth.

(Jeremy remembered how frustrating it had been for him at first to learn to read Rexley, who seemed to be in full control of himself at all times. He had eventually come to pick up on the subtle ways in which his consort expressed himself as he had come to spend more time with him over the past few months, though, and had even managed to prod a few genuine smiles out of him).

His stomach somersaulted as Rexely looked at him and he couldn’t help but smile.

(However, if Tarren’s teasing was anything to go by, he was probably beaming like an idiot).

Trouble felt himself shuffle slightly closer to Rexely, turning around fully to face him.

“Every year?” he asked, mostly in a way to continue the conversation. While moments of silence with Rexley were far from awkward, talking to him made Jeremy feel happy in a way that was hard to describe. It wasn’t overwhelming happiness but it could hardly be pinned down as an ordinary kindling of joy. It was just _really nice_.

Rexley hummed in response, looking out into in the garden once again. “It used to frighten me a bit as a child, the whole enormity of it, all the nobles, the people and the never-ending sea of drapes-“

Jeremy giggled and Rexley paused in his narration, his lips quirking at the corners.

“Now,” Rexley continued. “It all just seems rather excessive.”

“You’re the Crown Prince of Regelence,” Jeremy said, grinning. “Nothing can ever be excessive if it’s for you. Besides-“he pointed at the chaos below them- “that is comedy at its finest.”

Jeremy felt a warmth pool in his chest as Rexley let out a soft laugh at this. He loved it when he could make those rare smiles and laughs appear.

“Do you-“ Jeremy started but found that Rexley had turned the other way, his eyes fixed on something near the castle gates. His posture had lost its relaxation and was almost frozen. “Rexley?”

Trouble inched closer, leaning slightly further into the railing to see what had caught his consort’s attention.

The iron gates lay open and a carriage had settled onto the walkway leading up to the entrance of the castle. From this angle, he could only make out a tall figure emerging from the lift as the doors hissed open and two men frantically fumbling to unload, what was apparently a huge chest.

“Who is that?” Jeremy questioned, unable to contain his curiosity. “Are the guests arriving already?”

“No,” Rexley said, and Trouble glanced into his face at the neutrality of his voice to see his lips set into a firm line, all signs of laughter gone from his eyes. “But- .”

“ _What_?” Jeremy asked, trying his hardest to keep the impatience out of his voice. “Rexley, what’s wrong?”

But then Rexley turned towards the French doors of the balcony and after shooting an apologetic look his way that he often used to abruptly excuse himself, he moved towards the door. Jeremy felt the loss of his company almost immediately.

“Rexley,” he blurted out, causing his consort to pause in the threshold to look back at him quizzically.

“I- I just- I love talking to you.”

Because _of course,_ he had to say something so mortally embarrassing in front of the person he hoped would think only the best of him. _Of course_.

Rexely’s frown melted into a smile. “I enjoy talking to you as well, Jeremy,” he said before leaving Jeremy to melt into a puddle of giddiness.

* * *

"-and then he just left so suddenly," Jeremy was saying, nestled in an armchair in Tarren's room, his legs thrown over the back of the chair and his head hanging over the edge.

"Maybe it's a suitor," 

At those three words, Jeremy sat up suddenly and after overcoming a short bout of dizziness, he stared at Tarren in shock.

"What?" he sputtered. "What do you mean a _suitor_?"

Tarren simply shrugged. "That's the only reason a noble would have for arriving this early. It's common on a prince's birthday but they never do seem to like it very much," he frowned thoughtfully. "I don't see why though-"

Ignoring Tarren's eternal bewilderment at his siblings' past attempts to rid themselves of suitors, Jeremy threw his hands into the air. "Rexley can't have a suitor! Last I checked, he was engaged to me, not some dastardly noble. Well, I'm a noble now too but that's not the point. King Steven has to send him away. Besides, Rexley actually _wants_ to marry me!"

Tarren blinked up at him, startled by his sudden outburst. "Uh-"

A heavy silence filled the air for a few seconds, Jeremy's conviction dissipating into uncertainty.

"Doesn't he?"

* * *

To say Jeremy was infuriated would be a gross understatement.

The 'suitor'- Lord Ayles, they called him- instead of being sent away like Jeremy had hoped, had been residing in the castle for three days now. He'd had the nerve to come packed with not one but two chests of gifts in honour of the Crown Prince. That he was fairly handsome made everything worse. On top of all that, he kept trying to interact with Rexley and almost always succeeded in taking away the few spare moments the Prince had when Jeremy himself hadn't had a chance to talk to Rexley since their conversation on the balcony.

That he did not know what to make of this situation was making him more anxious with each passing day. He'd attempted to eavesdrop when Rexley and Steven were conversing in the King's study but then Jeffers had shut the room out against all ears.

( His later attempts to hack Jeffers' system had been foiled by Nate).

Jeremy wasn't sure why Steven and Raleigh were all but entertaining Ayles' offer to court Rexley by letting him stay in the castle; seeing as he already had a fiance. Then again, their engagement was yet to be publicly announced and King Steven might have changed his mind, deciding that Jeremy probably didn't have it in him to be the consort to the next king of Regelence. Maybe if he worked harder on his lessons in etiquette...

His heart sunk when he realised that maybe Rexley didn't want to be engaged to him anymore.

* * *

Nate did not appreciate it when Jeremy barged into his and Aiden's room the morning before Rexley's birthday, glaring at him while he scrambled for his sheets.

"Trouble," he growled, sitting up against the headboard. "What do you want?"

Jeremy paced the length of his adoptive father's room, trying and failing to reign in his panic. "Hawk, I need to get Rexley a present and we need to go _now_!"

Nate blinked at him through his half-shut eyelids, which under different circumstances would have been almost funny.

"You-didn't we go out to get him one last week?" he said, stifling a yawn and running his fingers through Aiden's hair, who was shifting uncomfortably in his sleep.

"Yeah but that-it won't work!"

Nate narrowed his eyes at him. "What are you trying to say?"

Jeremy paused in his pacing and rubbed the back of his neck shyly. "I want- I need to get him something better."

"Better?"

"Yeah! Like, uh, that sword you got Aiden."

At the mention of his name, Aiden raised his head from where it was buried in his pillow, eyes unfocused.

"Jeremy?" he said, voice thick with sleep

Nate let out an exasperated sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You're too young to give gifts like that, Trouble and what you got Rexley is perfectly fine. Now, what's this really about?"

Jeremy bit his lip in frustration. "No, you don't understand-!"

"Trouble, calm -"

"Rexley doesn't wanna marry me anymore!"

"Jeremy, _calm down_!"

Jeremy stopped mid-rant, his chest heaving.

"Jeremy," Aiden said, sitting up in a way similar to his husband. "What made you think that?"

"I-" Jeremy started, his voice quivering as he stared at Nate and Aiden, and for some reason suddenly felt embarrassed.

"I gotta go," he said and dashed out of the room, ignoring the calls behind him.

* * *

He fiddled with his cuff links as he stared out the library window into the slowly darkening garden, his thoughts riddled with distress. 

The celebrations for Rexley's birthday had begun this morning, everything going as planned. He had been unable to gather the courage to give Rexley the present he got him and still hadn't gotten a chance to talk to him, especially with Ayles hovering around at all times (despite, Jeremy noted, Rexley's polite dismissal . But he knew better than to let that give him hope). Jeremy had all but stormed out of the ballroom when Ayles had approached Rexley, no doubt wanting to ask for a dance. He'd avoided Nate and Aiden like the plague for the past day despite their constant efforts to corner him. He didn't want to talk to them, they wouldn't understand. In many ways, Jeremy kept telling himself that he'd get through it if Rexley annulled their engagement. Honestly, though, he didn't think he'd be able to take it. 

A light touch to his shoulder made him jump and lash out reflexively but Rexley caught his hand before he could land the punch. 

"Jeremy," Rexley breathed out in relief. "I was- what are you doing here?"

Jeremy swallowed thickly, feeling faint as he faced Rexley for the first time in days. "I didn't- I didn't want to be there."

"Oh," Rexley said, looking oddly surprised and almost hurt. 

Then again, maybe Jeremy was just reading it wrong. 

_Rexley's just trying to be polite. After all, he always feels responsible for everyone,_ he thought to himself.

"May I ask why?"

At that, Jeremy felt an inexplicable surge of irritation and he shook off Rexley's hand, snapping at him. "You know why."

"Jeremy-" Rexley started, eyebrows furrowing in confusion, which just made Jeremy angrier.

"No!" Jeremy said, pushing Rexley away from him. "Look, I get that you don't wanna marry me but don't try to pretend-"

_"What?"_ Rexley looked alarmed, causing Jeremy to falter mid-sentence. "Jeremy, why would you think that?"

"Well, you-" Jeremy hesitated only momentarily before saying what was on his mind. "You wanna marry someone like Ayles, don't you?"

"Jeremy-"

"Your parents didn't reject his offer, I'm assuming you didn't and you haven't spoken to me all week," Jeremy angrily swiped his arm over his eyes. "I'm not going to force you to marry me but I was thinking about working harder in my classes and then maybe-but if you still don't want to-"

" _Jeremy,"_ Rexley crossed the distance between them in two long strides and put his hands on Trouble's shoulders. " Jeremy, the reason Lord Ayles is staying here isn't that my parents or even I, for that matter, accepted an offer of courtship that he tried to present. We agreed to house him on the agreement that he would speak no more of this offer but clearly since nothing- not even the King of Regelence-seemed to dissuade him, we just thought we'd wait it out. But not for one second did I - I very much want to marry you, Jeremy."

"You do ?" Jeremy sniffled, looking up at him.

"Absolutely," Rexley said and then pulled him into a hug.

Jeremy buried his head in Rexley's shoulder, trying to even his breathing. 

"I wanted to ask you to dance," Rexley muttered into his ear, finger's buried in Jeremy's hair.

"Maybe we could still catch a waltz," Jeremy whispered, his breath stuttering.

"Actually," Rexely said, pressing a soft kiss to Jeremy's cheek. "Since the waltzes are just about to start, why don't we dance all three?"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> ( I don't recall if Trouble and Rexley's betrothal was publicly announced at the end of the first book so let's just assume it wasn't). 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
